Ghosts of Liberty
by Lord22
Summary: Nova Terra has been sent on a mission. Her task is to assassinate Magistrate Serena Calabas, who has been training rebels. But when her mission goes wrong, she finds herself trapped in a hostile world. Worse still, the Swarm, Dominion, and Mar Sarans battle for control. At this point, survival is in doubt, and success may be impossible...
1. Infiltration

**Chapter One: Infiltration**

Nova Terra rappeled out of the dropship, her blonde ponytail flowing around her. The white-clad ghost made a three-point landing, one knee bent. Standing up, she gazed over the barren wastes around them with narrowed eyes.

Raising her binoculars, she gazed out over the rocky cliffs and terrain and saw her target. It was a command center surrounded by heavy defenses. A large wall surrounded what had once been Backwater Station.

Now it was a fortress with dropships around it.

"Nova here, I've reached the planet Mar Sara," said Nova. "Ready to begin assault on target Magistrate."

"Acknowledged," said her communications officer, "proceed."

Nova Terra reached out with her thoughts and made her way through the desert, letting her suit blend her in. As she did, she noticed a patrol of men moving beyond. The soldiers had their guns readied and were gazing here and there.

"Any idea what the Commander is thinking?" asked one. "Are we moving?"

"It's the Dominion, private." said another. "We can't fight em, not even the Commander."

"Yeah, but we can't just let them walk in." said another. "If we just let them push us like this, sooner or later, they'll take everything."

"Cut the chatter and focus." said the sergeant.

Nova was far past them by this point. However, as she reached out, she sensed something. A missile turret that would prevent her from cloaking. Unfortunately, there were dozens of guards around it. They were scanning the surroundings, and then Nova's motion tracker picked something up.

Looking in the direction, she saw a scanning droid approaching. Quickly, Nova made for a set of rocks and hid as it passed overhead. This was some serious security. Even so, it was nothing she couldn't handle.

Even so, the entry point had been arranged.

Scaling up the cliffs, she enhanced her speed with psionics. Moving up she came to the edge of the cliff and saw men patrolling. A whole squad of them. Waiting until they passed, she made for the wall and reached for it. As she did, she drew back her hand, nearly yelling in alarm as her shields were burned through.

There was some kind of disruptor shield on them.

No warning signs, either.

Another drone was coming. Nova quickly moved back and hung from the edge of the cliff again to avoid sight. Glancing down, she saw how far she'd climbed to get up here. When Nova had been dispatched to take down a rogue militia commander, this was not what she had expected.

Serena Calabas was something of a legend, in spite of Dominion propaganda. She'd been instrumental in Mengsk's conquest of the sector. From there, she aided him in dealing with Alan Schezar's rebellion. And when General Edmund Duke had been killed, she'd stepped in to help secure the Dominion. Since then, however, she'd operated behind the scenes to undermine the Dominion. She'd provided forces and training for renegades like Raynor.

Even so, she didn't have access to high tech equipment to Nova's knowledge. No siege tanks or anything serious. Her battles had been won with limited resources.

It didn't matter. The drone had passed.

Nova pulled herself back up and made her way along the cliffs to the front gate. Heavily guarded like everywhere else. There were sentries with overlapping fields of vision. Nova reached out with her mind and sensed for anyone with divided loyalties. Maybe she could get them to shoot the Commander out of a desire for vengeance.

No such luck.

There was a fierce loyalty to her by the people of Mar Sara. She had saved them from the zerg, brought them out of Mar Sara, and refounded it. Her example had seen them become a major player in the Fringe Worlds through sheer force of will.

The same reason Nova had to kill her was making it nearly impossible to do it. Most pirates she went after had something. Someone they mistreated or insulted, but Calabas was considered beyond approach. Similar to how many believed in the Emperor.

No wonder Mengsk feared her.

How was Nova supposed to get in here? She couldn't scale the walls, and the gates had detectors. Looking up, she saw a patrol returning. They had a vulture with them. Narrowing her eyes, she ran forward and rolled under the vulture. Catching hold of it, she pulled herself up as it drove.

Now Nova felt gravity pulling on her as she clung to the vulture. The patrol returned, entering into the gate. Her cloak was broken by the sensors, but no one could directly see her.

"Welcome back, men." said a man, moving around. But he was coming toward her, and Nova realized from his thoughts that he was going to check underneath. Nearly panicking, Nova quickly scaled forward and pulled herself up near the engine. She felt the heat on her skin, and it hurt to hold on to it; however, it provided some cover as someone looked down.

Come on, come on, go away.

The okay was given, and the vulture moved on. Nova let herself fall down and hit the ground hard. She narrowly rolled out of the way to avoid being trampled by the rest of the patrol. Scrambling away, she made for some boxes. And she realized that the security here wasn't any better than outside. A sensor drone was heading around in patrols, and there seemed a random element.

Her cloak fell as she stood behind the boxes, and someone came to unload them. Nova crouched low and hoped they didn't find her. She had nowhere else to go.

Finally, they left.

Breathing a sigh of relief, Nova wished that she'd been sent at night.

On paper, this looked like an easy mark. Calabas was good at motivating men to launch suicidal attacks. But it had been taken for granted she could be removed. Even if she was better at security, this was like Nova was expected.

Drawing out a mirror, she scanned and observed the sensor drone's movements. As she did, she noticed the ventilation shaft. Command Centers had originally been designed for miners to defend themselves from pirates. So there was no real security against things like ghosts.

It looked like Calabas used an older model with a ventilation system having outlets on the side. That was Nova's best bet. If she could get in, she'd have some cover.

Waiting for the drone to pass, Nova made a run for it.

She sprinted with all her might, not daring to make a sound. A man crossed her path, and she nearly collided with him. Even so, Nova didn't make a sound and, at last, reached the ventilation shaft. Glancing around, she grabbed it and found the screws were on tight. Focusing her mind, Nova took hold of the screws and had them remove themselves.

It came off, but Nova kept them levitating. Pulling it aside, she slipped into it, then replaced the ventilation shafts. She put the screws back in, but not as tightly. Okay, so far, so good.

This was a standard command center.

That meant that the command deck ought to be a floor up, near the top. Nova made her way along with the vents, moving as quietly as she could. Soon she came to a way up and began to scale gradually up-

Nova saw a drone. It was floating near the top, and it had a flamethrower set up on it.

Seriously?

Nova dropped down again as the flames were unleashed where she'd been. The drone then turned downward. Quickly she raised her silence canister rifle and put a round through its systems. The thing fell, and she interposed itself. The drone slammed down onto her, and she groaned in pain.

That had made a lot of noise.

Less than it would have made if the thing had landed. Pushing it off, Nova set it down and quickly scaled as quickly as she could up the vent. Then she burned her hand on the red hot side of the wall and nearly tumbled down again. Scrambling back up, she hissed.

Thank god for healing systems and armor.

That might have triggered an alarm. Nova needed to move.

Crawling forward on the one hand and two legs, she made her way through the system. Soon she heard voices as she neared the command deck. Looking down, she saw her target.

Serena Calabas did not look as you would expect a hardened commander. She had a curvaceous beauty that could only have come from the genetic breeding pods of the Old Families. Her hair was long and dark. However, her eyes were hard, and she was sitting at a desk. Her thoughts were equally hard and guarded, and Nova raised her gun. Or tried to, her hand was hurting, and it was cramped in here.

"Commander, we've gotten a message from the Dominion battlegroup in orbit." said a man. "They say they are following a lead to Jim Raynor."

"No, they are not," said Calabas flatly, not looking up from her paperwork.

"Are you sure?" asked the man.

"The recolonization of Mar Sara was meant to result in independence," said Serena. "I wouldn't have saved the Dominion if the people of the sector hadn't gotten some benefit. However, the recent location of Xel'naga ruins has attracted the Moebius Foundation. Now that we've turned them down, they've asked Mengsk to find occasion to take over our world."

"So what do we do?" asked the man.

"I'd love to annihilate the whole fleet, but I can't, Hector," said Serena. "That would be throwing down the gauntlet with the Terran Dominion. Something we can't afford." Her mind calculated the best way to cause massive losses to the Dominion. At the same time, she considered how to keep her men and people alive. Ultimately, Calabas concluded that it simply wasn't worth the effort.

It would cause immense casualties among civilians and leave the sector exposed. Nova found this strange. She remembered the last time she'd worked with Calabas. As well as the humiliating experience she'd been subjected to.

Nova had been sent to serve Prince Valerian. But when she'd arrived, Prince Valerian had not been in command. Every soldier and person reported directly to Calabas. She'd flatly refused to even associate with the Prince after his arrival. When he entered a room, she'd walked out. As a result, Valerian could not even be present in person for command meetings.

It had made the operations of Antiga Prime difficult, to say the least. Valerian had insisted on running what he could. Calabas had several times intervened to correct his mistakes. She'd actually communicated through him through adjutants out of sheer spite. Nova had been there to ensure Valerian didn't come to any harm as much as help.

"So we give up?" asked Hector.

"Let's just say that wishes have a way of coming true," said Serena. "I was more than prepared for this eventuality, and things are already in motion.

"Send a transmission on an open channel to the Dominion Fleet.

"Tell them:

"Commander Calabas says to go ahead."

That sounded like code. Anyone who happened to be listening in could probably take it as a signal to do something. But what?

"Yes, ma'am," said Hector.

He turned to walk out.

Nova had assassinated a lot of pirates and rebels in her life. Most despised Mengsk, or what he represented. The best of them had been idealistic, but short-sighted. Calabas, however, was neither abhorrent or incompetent. Her thoughts regarding the Dominion were simple contempt. Yet she regarded it as a nonentity.

Prince Valerian was a naive imbecile whose reign would be shortlived in her mind. Serena was glad about the fact. Her entire family had died on Tarsonis, it seemed only fair that Mengsk lost the rest of his. Arcturus Mengsk was ruthlessly competent and the man the sector needed. But he would be disposed of as soon as he was of no more use.

It was then that Nova realized Serena wasn't a rebel.

Serena Calabas had no interest in fighting Mengsk as long as he was useful to her. Which meant that as soon as the zerg were no longer a threat. This was a preemptive strike. Nova had been sent here to murder her to make the operations on Mar Sara smoother and to head off a future problem.

For the first time in a long time, Nova felt genuine hesitation.

"So, did you enjoy dodging security bots?" asked Calabas, writing some paper.

Nova froze. Calabas knew she was here. Quickly she sensed for guards and found nothing. Opening the grating, she dropped down and pointed her gun at her. "You knew I was here."

"Of course, I knew you were here," said Serena. "I had the ventilation grates bugged to tell me if anyone had entered it. Zerglings like going in through those." She paused. "I'm actually somewhat impressed and flattered.

"I knew Arcturus would sent one of his attack dogs after me. I never thought he'd send his finest hounds."

Now Nova remembered why she hated Calabas so much.

During Antiga Prime, Nova had launched an unauthorized nuclear strike on zerg colonies. There had been some problems, but it had been a spectacular victory. Calabas had rewarded her with a solo mission of doing pinups and propaganda posters. A mission that Nova had been forced to endure parttime ever since.

"You've moved up in the world, haven't you?" asked Serena, putting down her pen and looking up. "From poster girl to poster girl who also kills people. All this coming from the most inept kleptocracy in the history of the sector."

"That Nova Terra died a long time ago," said Nova.

"Don't be absurd," said Calabas, clasping her hands together. "Whether you remember your old life or not, you remain the same person. You are as responsible for your actions now as you were then."

"You're one to talk," said Nova. "You called down the zerg on Antiga Prime. You knew what was going to happen then."

"I also commanded an assault on the zerg nerve center. It forced the entire swarm to draw back from their attack. By the time they'd finished eradicated Delta Squadron, they had to turn back and face us." said Calabas. "Of course, that little story has been censored by now.

"Raynor and the protoss came off too well in it.

Nova almost shot, but she needed information. She could take it from Calabas' mind in an instant, but that kind of violation was... wrong. "What are you going to do about the Dominion fleet?"

"I suppose you had the decency not to try and rip the information from my mind. So I'll humor you," said Calabas, standing up. She pressed several buttons on her desk, and an image of Mar Sara appeared in a hologram. "There are two kinds of Dominion soldiers these days. There are the Dominion soldiers who respond to crisis and launch offensives. And then there is the Moebius Corps. Glorified thugs who are integrated with the Fleet.

"Moebius Corps specializes in taking control of essential, limited resources. Terrazine, rare alloys. Generally, they land on whatever colony was unfortunate enough to discover it. They then brutalize the place, enslave the civilians, and then put them to work recovering it. They are then worked to death or 'disappear.'

"In one move, Moebius Corps removes all witnesses and people with a claim to ownership of it. In return for this, they give the Dominion exclusive access to their research. A symbiotic relationship if ever there was one." She smiled and looked at Nova. "Truly, you are a champion for humanity."

Nova had been aware that things like this happened, in theory. But she hadn't been told the details and hadn't had a chance to look them up. She was kept busy. "The Dominion has saved dozens of worlds. It is a source of order and security in a universe terrorized by aliens."

"So would the Confederacy, if it had lived long enough to see its obscene plan initiated," noted Calabas. "But no one weeps for them. Arcturus is far better than them, but that is more an inditement of the old regime than anything else."

"Get to the point," said Nova. "Or I'll use a faster solution."

"The point is that Mar Sara is far larger than the normal planet Mobius Corps ravage." scoffed Serena. "So they'll probably just enslave whoever is in the general area.

"As such, I've given an evacuation order to the nearest militia strongpoints."

Nova stared. For a moment, she blinked as she realized Calabas had finished. "That's it?"

"Of course not, I've also invited Kate Lockwell from the Dominion News Network. She's visiting one of those bases," said Serena. "Which means she'll be reporting on what happens."

It was so straightforward and naive that Nova was stunned. "You do know that they'll censor it. The best you'll get is a bit of buzz on their crimes before Mengsk spins it."

"That is the attitude of a defeatist," said Serena. "You've already given up on anything good happening, so you're content to beg for scraps."

"It's my choice to serve the Dominion!" snapped Nova, her words biting deeper than expected. That kind of reasoning was what led to the stupid rebellions that had left the terran sector exposed.

"I never said it wasn't," said Serena. "Anyway, I don't really care about outrage. What's more important is the unceremonious defeat Moebius Corps is in for."

"You don't really believe that," said Nova.

Mar Saran militia defeating a fullscale Dominion task force? Was she insane? No, Calabas's mind was calm. She knew she was being read and moved the hologram to the location of the mine. "They think we're fringe yokels, easily scattered. They are wrong.

"These are Mar Sara militia. I've had veterans of the Guild Wars training them for years. They are defending their homes, are backed into a corner, and highly motivated. Moebius Corps, meanwhile, are spineless cowards. Mercenaries who don't even have the guts to fight military targets.

"I expect we'll stalemate them and, in so doing, cause massive casualties.

"Of course, on its own, that wouldn't be enough.

"But isn't it convenient how I've been secretly working with Jim Raynor all along."

Nova scoffed. "That's not even a secret. Messageboards on the internet know you have regular contact with him. Mar Sara is a well-documented training ground for his forces."

"Of course it is," said Raynor. "But Mengsk can never admit that. He'd have to acknowledge certain other, inconvenient truths. So Mar Sara is going to have a revolution unofficially. At which point Mengsk will, unofficially, take the point not to mess with the existing system.

"This will also give me a convenient pretense to keep my draft laws in place. A lot of the newcomers object to the militarized nature of this society. A little massacre by glorified pirates will do more and make my point.

"Thus why I leaked information on the Xel'Naga temple."

Leaked? Had she... planned this? "You leaked it?"

"Of course I did," said Serena. "This showdown was inevitable anyway, so I might as well have it on my terms. And if Mengsk wasn't going to break our deal, there would be no harm, no foul."

"And what about the people who die there?" asked Nova. "How are you any different from Mengsk now?!"

Serena didn't look remotely affected. She had a gun pointed at her, so why was she not even worried. Nova scanned her, but Serena spoke. "You act as if your precious Dominion aren't the ones putting a gun in their mouths. As for how I'm different, what's my alternative? Stand defiantly and declare open rebellion against the Dominion? Even I can't fight the entire Dominion Fleet. And if I could, I still wouldn't.

"Kerrigan is still a problem.

"This truce with Arcturus needs to remain in action until she makes her move.

"...Why are you here, anyway?"

Nova was surprised at the question and reminded of the answer. "To kill you."

"But why are you here to kill me?" asked Serena.

Nova paused. "It's nothing personal. The Emperor has given an order-"

"Is that it? Are you a mindless automaton making pre-programmed one-liners?" asked Serena. "Who are you, Nova Terra? What are your goals, and why do you want them? Do you even have any character traits beyond obedient and pretty?"

"I am a Ghost of the Dominion." snapped Nova. "I don't need more of an identity than that."

"So, you approve of what the Moebius Corps does, then?" asked Serena.

"No, but-" began Nova.

"Then how can you call yourself a Ghost of the Dominion?" asked Serena. "When you embody a concept, you accept everything that concept entails. You haven't shed your personal responsibility because the Dominion mind-wiped you.

"Turning up your nose at brutality you enable without question, does not make you a good person. It makes you a hypocrite."

"And I suppose you are." said Nova.

"Of course not," said Serena. I helped call the zerg down on Antiga Prime. Yes, I was terrified, naive, and in a terrible situation, but that didn't make it right. I had a chance to stop Arcturus before things got to that point, and I did not take it.

"But I'm trying to make the best of a bad situation.

"What are you trying to do, Nova?"

There was no more point in having this conversation. Nova had her orders, and she wasn't going to disobey them. Not just because one of the people she was sent to kill was a good person. Good people died in the Koprolu Sector. "The same thing."

She fired.

The shot went through the air and struck Serena in the left breast. Yet there was a flash of blue energy, and the shot bounced off. Before Nova could move, energy shot out of the walls and struck Nova. Her entire body was forced to a ridged posture. Her gun fell from her hands as she was levitated into the air. Her hands were forced behind her back, as her shields were drained.

"Oh, I forgot to mention that I learned a thing or two about protoss energy shields while on Aiur," said Serena. "And their security systems for holding psychics. Combine it with terran technology and you have an excellent security system for my office.

"It was a snappy one-liner, though." She pressed a button on her desk. Nova tried to speak, but she was completely frozen in place.

"I'm curious, though, how many people have you saved over your life?" asked Serena, typing at her console. "I mean, you've been making headshots, destroying pirate groups and all that for years. Very impressive.

"But how many people have you, personally, by your direct actions, saved."

Nova...

Nova was having trouble thinking of any. She guessed she had saved a few Dominion marines. And the people she had killed had prevented later deaths.

"Now, how does that number compare to Arcturus?" asked Serena.

Emperor Arcturus had commanded the evacuation and protection of numerous worlds. His actions had led to many being saved, that was why she served him.

But who was she to condemn him? Hadn't Mengsk done far more than her to help people? But she was helping him by removing his political enemies. But was Nova sure that killing them was the only way? Maybe if she hadn't been killing them, Mengsk would have needed to negotiate.

Had Nova actually been helping the situation? Or just making it worse?

The answer became irrelevant as Serena Calbas drew out a pistol and put it to Nova's gut. "Have fun stewing in that in hell, blondie."

There was a vicious gunshot, and Nova screamed as the energy dissipated. She fell to the ground, feeling her entire body go numb. As she fell, Serena moved past her body as the door opened.

"Commander Calabas, are you alright?" asked a guard.

"Yes, fine, thank you," said Serena. "Prepare the troops for battle." She glanced back to Nova, as her vision began to fail. "Send the ghost to the desert."

Everything went black.


	2. The Good Mar Saran

**Chapter Two: The Good Mar Saran**

Nova awoke, gasping for air.

Her stomach hurt like hell, and as she pulled herself up, she looked around. She was within an isolated room, a medical place. Her hair was untied and she was wearing a hospital gown. Meanwhile, her mouth felt like it was a desert and there was an IV nearby.

The curtain of plastic was pulled aside and a man moved in. He was wearing a white coat and had glasses. "So, you're awake. How many fingers am I holding up?" He raised his hand.

"...Three," said Nova.

From his mind, she sensed that he'd found her. The vision of herself lying naked in a pool of her own blood was horrific. Apparently her auto healing unit had been a stopgap, but it had a near thing.

"Well, you can see well enough." said the man. "I'm Doctor Samuel Aratan, and I'm pleased you woke up. When I found you, you were dehydrated, naked, and bleeding heavily. Frankly, it's a wonder you survived as long as you did.

"Can you remember how you got out there?"

Nova considered what she could tell him and decided it would be best to feign ignorance. "...No, no I can't.

"Where am I?"

"You're in my clinic," said Samuel. "And, as things turn out, my home as well." He took up a plastic cup and filled it with water. "Drink this." He offered her it.

Nova drank it quickly. She refilled it and drank again, but the thirst was hardly gone. A third time helped a bit. Then she felt under her gown where she'd been shot. "No scar."

"Yes, that's one of the few good things to come out of the Great War. The United Earth Directorate's invasion brought in a lot of advanced medical technology. We're able to save lives that previously we couldn't."

"That was the Brood War," said Nova, remembering her history.

"Ah, that," said Samuel. "Well see, Magistrate Calabas is the one who writes all the timelines. She's very insistent that the Brood War was actually nothing more than an extension of the Great War. There are even a few who say the Great War never ended at all.

"Do you feel capable of moving?"

"Yes, I, where am I?" asked Nova, standing up. He wasn't attracted to her at all, that was unusual. Oh, right, he was homosexual. That explained it.

"Near the Dominion Garrison's primary HQ on Mar Sara," said Samuel. "Technically the capital, but in practice, Magistrate Calabas operates from elsewhere.

"How much can you remember?"

"I remember someone shot me," said Nova.

"That much I guessed," said Samuel, filling the water cup up and giving it to her. "There are still raiders that come down here, now and then. With the increase in population, some always slip through.

"I remember there was a battle with the Kel'Morian Combine a few years ago. No survivors on their part."

"Why do people want to come here?" asked Nova.

"It's safe," said Samuel. "Retaking Mar Sara was a major accomplishment during the Great War, it helped a lot of people resettle. And since Calabas was in charge of it all, people liked the idea of living under her. Whatever her faults, she's a very accomplished a general.

"Do you have someone I you call call?"

Nova looked around, how to answer that. She had no clothes, no weapons, no ID and no money. "I need to get to the Dominion HQ. There's someone I can call off-planet.

"They have an interplanetary relay, right?" Calls between planets were expensive and took major hardware. If they didn't she had a problem.

"Yeah, they do," said Samuel. "I'll drive you over there. You can borrow some of my clothes for it."

"Thank you, but I'd rather go myself," said Nova. It would be better if he weren't involved.

"It's nearly twenty miles," said Samuel.

"Oh, oh right," said Nova. "I... uh... thank you."

Thirty minutes later, Nova was clad in a pink shirt and loose pants held up with a belt. They didn't fit her all that well, except around the chest. But it was far better than nothing. As Samuel drove her in a truck along the road, Nova saw the buildings.

It was more like a minor cityscape here than a fringe colony. Like what Korhal had been a few years ago. Nova rarely actually got to see civilization. Most of her operations were on battlefields or remote locations. It was odd to see it now.

"With all this industry you'd never guess this was a fringe colony," said Nova.

"Fringe is nothing more than a derogatory word," said Samuel. "Antiga Prime was a 'fringe' colony and it had enough industry to fuel the Sons of Korhal in a fullscale war. Even if most of that went off-world after the protoss glassed it.

"People like the Old Families made it up so they could dehumanize the people who got it the worst. The 'fringe yokels' were mostly descendants of people who fled the Core Worlds."

Nova had been one of the Old Families. In another life. "Why would they do that?"

"A lot of reasons," said Samuel with a shrug. "Persecution, the hope of a better future, or just plain unemployment. The Confederacy, meanwhile, saw them as easy pickings. The military kept on being sent in to steal valuable contracts at gunpoint. So people kept on fleeing farther and farther afield." He halted suddenly, screeching to a halt as some kids ran across the street. Lowering the window he peaked out and Nova sensed his surprise and fury. "Hey, use the crosswalks! You'll get run over!"

They passed without answering and Samuel closed the window. "I swear. People need to teach their kids to be more careful. They let them play in the streets these days." He sighed. "I guess I shouldn't complain." He kept driving a bit slower. "Anyway, that's why terran society is so mobile. You had to be ready to pick up and flee with whatever you could carry at any moment. Which sort of worked out.

"The reason we lost so many worlds without breaking a sweat is that our population was spread thin. Mengsk evacuating civilians while the military held out was a stroke of brilliance. It created a fighting retreat. One that blunted the zerg offensive and caused immense casualties. Meanwhile, our losses were minor at best. The animals probably figured they were winning nothing but victories.

"But our forces were kept intact, while they took massive casualties.

"Well, except on Tarsonis. Though I hear the survivors have been rebuilding with Dominion's help. A lot of value in salvage. UED did us all a favor by crushing most of the broods there. The Queen of Blades had to draw the rest back to fight them on Char. And while hse was doing that, Mengsk, Raynor and Calabas were able to purge her forces on Korhal and Moria."

"Are you a historian?" asked Nova. He seemed to know a lot.

"People in the sector take a real interest in the way wars are heading," said Samuel. "Depending on how things turn out, we could be next.

"Though at least we don't have to worry about resource grabs anymore. Emperor Arcturus doesn't do that kind of thing though. That's why people like him so much, stay on his good side and you're entitled to the sweat of your brow. What you see is a result of the Dominion, even if Magistrate Calabas would never admit it."

"You sound like you don't like her," said Nova, feeling her own viewpoint vindicated.

"Magistrate Calabas has... questionable judgment," said Samuel delicately. "The woman is a war hero, no mistake. She led charges on sunken colonies while retaking this place and Antiga Prime. I've never done anything like that.

"I just don't like the way people worship her."

"What do you mean?" asked Nova.

"Serena Calabas has created, well, something of a cult of personality," said Samuel. "When she says something, people listen. Her pragmatic policy appeals to a lot of cynical people, but there is no ideology in it.

"I remember I once watched her make a speech commemorating dead war heroes.

"She played footage of the assaults and didn't censor any of it. Then she made her speech and told everyone the same thing would happen again. Although she did warn parents to take their children out of the auditorium first, so that was nice."

"You didn't answer my question," noted Nova.

Samuel looked around. "It's uh, well I shouldn't say this kind of thing in public. I think Calabas wants to fight Mengsk. The man distrusts her enough to keep her out of common news coverage. And she has been putting massive amounts of funding into the militia.

"It's been years since anyone dared come to Mar Sara. But Calabas just keeps on pouring funds into increasing the number of marines. She's even started sending her veterans to other fringe worlds to train their militia up to speed. And now we've got this Dominion Fleet.

"It's been up there for almost a week. Calabas and them have been exchanging with eachother and not a word has come down to us about what is happening."

"So what do you think is going on?" asked Nova.

"Well, Calabas broke with Mengsk at Tarsonis," said Samuel. "Right around the same time, Raynor did. Now, Raynor has a good reputation here on Mar Sara, so don't say anything bad about him. I mean it, there have been gunfights about people insulting him.

"Anyway word is that he and Calabas always got on well. He's also the one who recruited her into the Sons of Korhal during the Great War.

"I think that Raynor and Calabas never really considered themselves as Mengsk's subordinates. They were, partners in crime, if you get me. Then Tarsonis went up in flames, and Mengsk ordered a withdrawal."

"The Dominion Fleet could not have defeated a force of zerg that large," said Nova. "It would have been a suicide mission."

"Right, right, but you've got to keep in mind, Calabas lived down there," said Samuel. "So did her whole family. I think she took it personally, and that's why she broke with him. Mengsk, obviously, didn't like that, which is why you got the showdown on the Ion Cannon.

"But then she breaks with Raynor and goes back to Mengsk. That's the part I don't get."

"Maybe they disagreed over leadership," said Nova, remembering how uncompromising Serena was. Raynor had led them to Char to retrieve Kerrigan, hadn't he? That didn't seem like the kind of mission Calabas would like.

"Attention," said a voice, "this is Magistrate Calabas. The Dominion Fleet will begin operations in your area within two standard hours. Their purpose is to take possession of a mine that has been judged to contain sensitive content.

"I recommend all citizens take shelter with the local militia headquarters. Accidents can happen. This is your final warning."

"There she goes again," said Samuel. "This kind of warning got sent out when the Kel'Morians went in for a raid. But this is the Dominion. We're part of it.

"I don't get why she's so insistent."

Nova could understand him. There was no reason to assume anything Calabas said was correct. Yes, Nova had been sent to kill her, but it was clear that she'd been against the Dominion for years.

Soon they came within sight of a huge structure, surrounded by vast walls. Samuel pointed to it. "There is it. The Dominion garrison HQ. In theory, Calabas ought to operate out of that, but, well, a lot of things are good in theory."

"Where does she operate?" asked Nova.

"A lot of places," said Samuel as they drew in. "Backwater Station, Refugee Gulch, Fort Idlen."

"Fort Idlen?" asked Nova.

"Oh, that," said Samuel. "See, during the evacuation of Mar Sara, the Confederate Commander, Idlen, helped us. He set up defenses. He ended up getting infested by the zerg, and Calabas had to kill him.

"The fort was built by him to help defend refugees during an evacuation. It was the staging ground Calabas used to destroy the zerg hive clusters. Of course, even as she did that, the zerg just warped in a lot more zerg. So the evacuation had to happen anyway. After the protoss glassed the place, she had the place rebuilt. Named it after him." He paused. "We can't talk, there's stuff here worth looking at."

They moved through the walls, and Nova saw all around her statues. A lot of statues rising high around her. They were of Mengsk, of Dominion Marines, and other monuments. Ones of their design were commonplace on other worlds but usually spread out.

"The planetary monuments," said Nova. "Chronicling the rise of the Dominion. Why are they all packed in here?"

"So no one could see them," said Samuel. "Yeah, there's a rule that colonies of a given level of prosperity have to have monuments to the Dominion. Sort of historical pride, and I don't see anything wrong with it. Calabas obeyed the letter of the rule, but she had them all built behind massive stone walls. No one could even see them.

"The only way you'll see them is if you're driving to the HQ, and most people don't." He drove into the parking lot and halted. "Here we are. The door to the front desk is in there if you want to ask to use it. Though, to be honest, you'll have to wait a while, and you'll probably have a fairly steep fee." He paused. "Do you need any help? I could come in-"

"No, I'm fine," said Nova.

"Well," said Samuel, drawing out a wallet. "here's the hundred credits you'll need. That should get you to Korhal or wherever you need to call."

"Thank you, Samuel," said Nova, feeling touched as she took it. "Thank you so much."

"It's no trouble," said Samuel. "It's just money. Once you have enough of the stuff to live, it's worthless." Then he drew out a sheet of paper and quickly drew out a number and handed it to her. "Oh, and uh, here's my number. Just in case the system is down or something. Sometimes things go badly.

"If you need any more help, call me."

Nova had no idea why he was helping her like this. He wasn't attracted to her, he stood nothing to gain by it. He was just helping her for its own sake. Most people whose minds she scanned would do nothing of this sort. "Right, thanks."

"Good luck," said Samuel. "Oh, and what's your name?"

"Nova," said Nova, opening the door and stepping out.

"Well, good luck Nova," said Samuel.

Nova made her way out. He hadn't even known her name, and he'd gone above and beyond obligation. Free medical treatment, the drive to the HQ, and money to purchase the use of the system.

She found herself stunned as she walked into the waiting room. All this time, she'd been thinking about how the sector was a horrible place. A world where any order was better than what was happening, but...

This was what she had been fighting for, really.

Calabas could make her speeches all she wanted. But without the Dominion, none of this would have been possible. Nova composed herself and looked around at the surrounding area. There were two other people in the waiting room. First, a marine clad in blue armor. He was standing up, a chaingun propped up against the wall as he read a newspaper. Then there was the man typing at the front desk.

Nova moved forward.

"Can I help you?" asked the man, looking up.

"I... I need to make an interplanetary call," said Nova.

"Name?" asked the man.

"Nova Terra," said Nova before she could think of an alias.

The man looked up in surprise. His mind scanned over memories of news reports and someone with similar features to Nova. Her younger, teenaged self. "...Alright, I'll call it in. But there's a wait time.

"There's a magazine over there if you want to wait."

Nova made her way over to the seats and sat down, looking over the magazines. Much to her chagrin, she was on the front page of several of them. Damn Calabas.

"Oh. Shit." said the marine, though inwardly, he was amused.

"What?" said Nova, looking up.

"Fallout 76 has had another disaster," said Tychus. "Apparently, people who play the game are three times as likely to become the targets of the zerg."

"You're joking," said Nova. Was this some kind of hit piece? No, it was a credible magazine.

"It's right here, legs." said the marine, showing her the newspaper. "Emperor Arcturus has ordered Bethesda shut down for good and had the CEO shot. Also, he shut down the Todd Howard mainframe. The AI personality has been purged.

"Sort of funny."

"How is that funny?" asked Nova.

"Well, the fiasco started hundreds of years ago with a buggy virtual wasteland," said Tychus. "Now it has concluded with them literally summoning giant bugs into real one. Who says fiction doesn't become a reality?"

"Who are you anyway?" asked Nova, realizing she could not read him well at all.

The marine visor slid back. "The names Tychus Findlay. I'm here on business of my own."

And then Nova could read him. And everything changed.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

So, just to confirm, the answer is yes.

This storyline takes place within canon. The events of Starcraft 1 happened as they did originally. This is merely a straight reinterpretation.

Also, I was hesitant to put in the Fallout 76 joke initially. But let's be honest. They've already tried to kill their player base with moldy helmets. Would you really put this past them?


	3. Escalation

**Chapter Three: Escalation**

The bridge of the Hyperion had seen better days.

Raynor's Raiders had been hunted across the Galaxy for months nonstop. Every small victory they won didn't seem to do anything. Raynor himself suspected that they weren't hunted nearly as much as Mengsk claimed. Mostly he'd tried to focus on fighting the zerg. He'd helped the planets that slipped through the cracks, done what he could. Mostly he'd targetted the Dominion when it went too far.

"Sir?" asked Matt.

Oh, he'd been speaking. Raynor looked up. "What is it, Matt?"

"We've got word from Magistrate Calabas," said Matt. "Mengsk has made his move, and we've got the go-ahead."

Finally, a chance to turn the rebellion around. Or, maybe, just get it started. He stood up and tried to look confident. "Right, right."

"Sir, is something wrong?" asked Matt.

"I was hoping I wouldn't have to do this, to be honest," said Raynor, admitting the truth.

"What do you mean?" asked Matt.

"Well, I had this pipe dream that Arcturus would soften up a bit," said Raynor. He put a bit of sarcasm in for appearances. "Maybe become a bit more benevolent, and we could put this rebellion stuff behind us."

"Much as I'm sure we all wish for that, Jim, I'd say that dream went up with Tarsonis," said Matt.

"A lot of things did," said Raynor grimly, moving to the edge of the bridge and seeing Mar Sara far below. "Alright, I'm going down there myself. Tell the men to stand by for my arrival." If this rebellion really was doomed, he might as well take risks himself.

Matt blinked. "You want us to leave you there? Sir, what if you get cornered?"

"Relax, Matt," said Raynor. "The point of us being there is to give Serena a cover story. We fire the first shots, and a bunch of militia shows up to help us. The Raiders get the credit, Serena gets rid of a problem, and Mengsk gets the message."

"Yes, but, sir..." said Matt.

Raynor looked up and caught something else from the uniform-clad man. "What?"

"What if this is a trap?" asked Matt. "I know you were friends with Serena. But she helped Mengsk consolidate his power over the Dominion."

"So did we," noted Raynor, remembering when he'd had Matt's role for Serena. "And Serena isn't interested in the Dominion, just securing people against the zerg."

"Yeah, but... Mengsk is always saying that you are dividing the sector's resources. What if-" began Matt.

"I'm not hearing this, Matt," said Raynor. "Get my armor ready."

It was time to start the revolution.

* * *

Tychus Findlay was a man on a mission.

More specifically, a mission to find James Eugene Raynor. He was dispatched by Emperor Mengsk himself but was acting on behalf of Moebius. The theory was that he'd approach Raynor with an offer to help find a number of artifacts. However, all the artifacts were occupied by dangerous aliens.

If Raynor died retrieving them, good. If not, he'd wipe out a large number of hostile aliens and neutralize their threat. And Tychus Findlay was a critical means of doing so, he was supposed to appeal to their old friendship.

"You see something you like, lady?" asked Tychus.

"No, no, I just..." Nova halted. "So what brings you to Mar Sara?"

"I'm what you might call a bounty hunter," said Tychus. "Word was that Jim Raynor visits this place pretty regularly, and I'm hoping to collect on the bounty on his head."

A lie, but Nova hardly noticed it. Tychus had been sold out by Raynor for a pardon. Yet there wasn't much anger there. "So, what are you doing here?"

"Well, figured I ought to ask here in the HQ," said Tychus. "This is the center of government on the colony."

"Try the highlands north of Backwater Station," said Nova.

Tychus raised an eyebrow. "Why?"

"Well, I've heard that Magistrate Calabas spends a lot of time there," said Nova.

And then there was a distant sound. Was that gunfire? Nova turned and made her way outside, and Tychus walked with her. Then she saw dropships, dozens upon dozens of dropships with the red coloring of the Dominion. They were landing all over, some in the distance, others nearer to hand.

A whole troop of marines were even now rappeling down to head toward the HQ. Nova sensed a lot of aggression and fear from those around her. Looking up, she saw that Tychus Findlay was gone. He'd slipped off quickly for someone in a marine suit.

Quickly ducking into the HQ, Nova saw employees coming out as if to meet the officer coming.

When the Dominion Marines entered, they didn't knock.

They came through the door, firing impaler grounds into the ceiling. "All of you get on the ground! Now!"

People scrambled to throw themselves down. Nova quickly moved to one side and joined them. As she did, she felt their thoughts. A hard-eyed officer in a black uniform came forward. He glanced at her, and Nova felt him calculating as he gazed at her, then to the others. "In the name of the Terran Dominion, I am taking control of this facility. All of you get up against the wall!"

"What are you talking about?" said a man. "This is the Dominion government."

The officer shot the man through the head, splattering blood all over the desk. "That's how we Moebius Corps deal with people who talkback! Now, the rest of you get up against the wall before I get really angry."

People quickly complied, and Nova went with them. They had to be acting against-

She was stopped as the officer grabbed her by the shoulder. "You, this woman is a fugitive, take her to a holding cell and keep her there. I'll interrogate her myself later."

"Yes, sir." said a man. Her arm was grabbed in a grip that hurt. "Come here, Ms. Fugitive, you don't want us to get rough, do you?"

"Wait, you can't-" began Nova, before being pulled off.

As she did, she heard their thoughts. Mental images of her writhing in their grasp filtered through her eyes as she was forced forward.

"Take the rest to the mines!" said the officer behind. "Then fan out and find the others! Move!"

"Hey, what do you say we try a free sample on this one, Kurt?" asked a man. "No harm is taste testing, right?"

There was no horror. The prospect of raping an innocent woman was nothing to him, commonplace for them. Like a day at the arcade. "Quiet, you know as well as I the commander will want her first. He always does, you know."

"Fine, fine. I guess we can use her once he's done." said the first.

Nova panicked. She sent out a mental backlash into them, and they screamed, letting go of her and falling back. Falling to the ground, both did not move. Nova stepped back as she looked over the bodies.

She'd just killed two Dominion soldiers.

No, no, they had been acting contrary to the rules the Emperor had laid out for the armed forces. It had to be a coincidence that this lined up with what Calabas had said. Nova quickly moved through the halls. She dodged several patrols as she used her abilities to hide. Doing this without a suit was hard. You had to stay focused constantly, and it burned energy like nothing else.

Then she heard gunfire.

Coming around a corner, she found several Dominion marines blasted full of holes. Tychus Findlay was standing over them with a smoking chaingun.

"Tychus Findlay?" asked Nova.

"You hurt any?" asked Tychus, mask peeling back to reveal he was smoking.

"No, I uh... I lost the two that were sent to guard me," said Nova.

"Good," said Tychus, raising his chaingun. "I reckon we oughtta get the hell out of here ASAP. This is going to get real ugly quick. We'll take the back door."

Nova followed him quickly out of habit. "I'd say it already is."

Tychus scoffed. "I've seen the Confederate Good Squads and how they operate, lady. Just because these ones are wearing a different outfit doesn't make a difference. Now come on, we're getting to the militia headquarters."

They came to the back door and left. Tychus had noted the location of potential escape routes before he entered here. Nova halted. "I need to make a call in the HQ-"

"Then make it once this blows over," said Tychus. "No time for it now." Then he led them out.

Nova could probably use her abilities to help here. But that would expose who she was. Wait, couldn't she do that and...

No. She had no official rank in the Dominion.

She couldn't call this off. And revealing herself could alienate colonists. Best to stay silent and-

Why was Tychus walking toward the front gate! They had an entire squad there!

The reason why was made clear when Tychus started blasting. The marines, who had been joking about some civilians they'd murdered for money, ran for cover. As Tychus moved forward calmly, he continued blasting them, even as he walked out the front gate. Drawing out a grenade, he drew it out and tossed it behind the truck they were sheltering in.

The truck exploded, and one of the men was thrown into the open. Then he was torn to shreds by chaingun fire. Nova supposed she couldn't say they didn't deserve it.

"What kind of shortcut is that?!" screamed Nova.

"The kind that gets to the point," said Tychus, now that they were both on the road. "Let's move."

And he led them off the road and into a series of hills. Briefly, a pursuit was started before being. Then it abruptly stopped by Tychus unleashing another barrage. Up they went and across several hills. Eventually, Tychus finally stopped to toss away his cigarette. "You're pretty good at climbing," he noted.

"Well, I've had to run for my life before," admitted Nova, still in shock.

Then they rounded the hill and saw a town. The sound of broken glass could be heard. People were being loaded into trucks at gunpoint. Meanwhile, some marines were stripping away necklaces and other valuables. These were piled into boxes, while bottles of beer were opened outside a shattered bar.

"What are they doing?" said Nova.

"Looting the place," said Tychus. "Stealing everything that's not nailed down, which isn't part of the mission. Enterprising young fellas like this are why Jimmy and I went into piracy." He paused. "Too many for me to take out."

"Why not?" asked Nova. Was she seriously suggesting he attack Dominion troops?

"They'd be protecting their loot," said Tychus. "These aren't the glorious marines you see in recruitment posters. They're the ones who only care about money. They do the dirty work of some scumbag, and in exchange, they get to do whatever they want.

"They don't care about the cause, so they ain't willing to die for it. But they'll fight tooth and nail for loot. Sides, they weren't expecting a fight of any kind. They panicked and ducked and ran like anybody would expect em too."

He turned and strode off. Nova had nothing else to do but follow him. She had no mission objectives, no equipment, and absolutely no idea what to do. The rules of conduct hadn't covered this. "How do you know so much about these people?"

"I used to be one," admitted Tychus, feeling some guilt. "Got sick of charging bunkers and figured I'd go into something a bit more lucrative. Then I got told to mow down a wall of civilians.

"I could have shot the fucker who told me to do it, but it wouldn't have saved em.

"So I pulled the trigger and requested a transfer. They called me soft.

"After that, I went into business for myself. Couldn't leave the military and didn't see the point in trying to help win the war, given the result. I tied up billions of credits the Confederacy could have used against the Kel'Morians."

"The Dominion is different," said Nova, it sounded weak, even to her.

"Those people look like their feeling the difference?" asked Tychus.

Nova shifted. "We've got to help them."

"Go ahead," said Tychus. "Start a firefight with a whole platoon using a gun you don't have. I'm sure that'll help em a lot. Let's go."

Nova saw his point and followed. As they did, the armored trucks drove off with the people. Behind was left only shattered neighborhood. "What will happen to them?"

"My guess, worked to death," said Tychus. "Though things might have changed a bit. Either way, they're not getting out alive. Old Arcturus isn't gonna want them telling stories about this. So whatever use they are is gonna be their last.

"Now come on, there's a militia HQ near here. I was going to ask around there. Seems like our safest bet at the moment. I hear Mar Sarans play hardcore."

What the hell was going on?


	4. Liberation Day

**Chapter Four: Liberation Day**

It was Joey Ray's Bar, the new one.

The old one had been consumed by the white light that came with protoss orbital bombardments. It and every other structure on the planet had been wrecked at best and atomized at worst.

Still, Raynor got free drinks when he came here.

He was waiting now. Waiting for the signal to move in. Things had already went to hell, but they had to time this thing right. For now, he was listening to one of the least terrible news stations.

"...and in other news today, Emperor Arcturus Mengsk held a press conference commemorating the end of the so-called Brood War some four years ago." said Donny Vermillion, professional talking head. "Our own Kate Lockwell was on the scene."

"Emperor, the threat of a new zerg invasion is still very real - but instead of expanding our fleets, you've squandered trillions on hunting down has-been rebels like Jim Raynor!" said Kate Lockwell.

The hell he had.

Raynor and Arcturus had better things to do with their time than shoot eachother. They'd spent the past few years skirmishing with the zerg. There'd been an unofficial truce made between Artanis' Daelaam and the Dominion, and everyone had been doing nothing but killing zerg and rebuilding. It was the only way they'd been able to prevent Kerrrigan from getting complete victory.

It was technically true that Arcturus had set aside funds.

But Raynor suspected 'hunting Jim Raynor' was actually a cover for 'black ops.' Mengsk had picked Raynor as his favorite media punching bag for one simple reason. Raynor wasn't crazy enough to burn down the Dominion. Not when the zerg were a threat and from the looks of things that was going to be forever.

So Mengsk let everyone think Raynor was his ultimate adversary. As opposed to Tosh, or the Kel' Morians or any number of other more dangerous enemies. And all Raynor could do was play along and try to keep Mengsk's psychopathic narcissism in check.

It was enough to drive a guy to drink, which was precisely what had happened. The numbing effects of alcohol were an old friend by this point. It had started with Fenix, and gotten worse from there.

"Jim Raynor represents a clear and present threat to this Dominion!" said Mengsk. "He is an unscrupulous, lawless revolutionary bent on spreading fear and dissension across the sector!"

Raynor drew up a photo. It was of a beautiful, red-haired woman who didn't exist anymore. He wished she'd died back then, but the universe had far too twisted a sense of humor for that. Raynor was very angry all of a sudden.

"He and his ragtag band of miscreants have instigated open rebellion across six separate worlds - and stolen vast amounts of Dominion weapons and hardware!"

Raynor had been looking forward to seeing Serena again. He'd hoped it might have been like old times when they had a righteous cause, and Arcturus wasn't a maniac. But Serena couldn't meet him, she had better things to do and so to him. It all went to make Raynor feel like he belonged even less in this place than he had been.

"I assure you, this criminal will be brought to justice... very soon," said Mengsk.

That was a declaration of war.

This unofficial truce between Mengsk and Raynor was officially over. Fuck the Dominion. Fuck the truce and fuck the stability of the sector. Arcturus figured that now that he'd rebuild his Dominion he didn't need Raynor anymore. That he could wipe him out anytime. Rewrite history, so he'd done all the work himself.

Raynor drew his pistol and pointed it at the screen. "It ain't over till it's over, you son of a bitch."

He pulled the trigger, there was a bang and the screen shattered. It hadn't been necessary, but it sure as hell made Raynor feel better. Quickly he injected himself to purge the alcohol in his system. It wasn't pleasant, throwing up, but it got him thinking straight quickly.

He opened the communicator. "Serena, are my troops ready yet?"

Serena appeared, looking far better than Raynor. She'd obviously taken care of herself. "Yes, yes they are. We've delayed as long as possible, but the 'special delivery' will be ready when you call for it."

"Good," said Raynor. "Bout time we kicked this revolution into overdrive."

* * *

Nova and Tychus made their way through the highlands. They were lost, weren't they. Tychus clearly thought he knew where he was going, but he might have been kidding himself. "How far do we have to go at this rate?" asked Nova.

Tychus scanned over his digital map for a bit. "Well, um, I think we need to take a left here."

Nova looked around and realized this place was awfully familiar. "We took a left here earlier.

"You've been leading us in circles."

Tychus took issue at this. "I've been leading us away from an impaler round sundae, lady. I wasn't exactly able to focus on the road.

"Now you want to try using this map? Or are you gonna shut up and let me work."

Nova decided she was out of options. Closing her eyes, she reached out with her mind and sense for life forces. Soon enough, she found them, and from their thoughts, they were the militia.

Opening her eyes, Nova walked on. "This way."

"What, you figured that out so quick?" asked Tychus, suspecting the obvious.

"Look, I have some psychic abilities, alright," said Nova, deciding to be plain. "I can sense people this way, and they aren't Dominion. Now come on, let's go."

"Whatever you say, lady," said Tychus, before halting and opening the leg of his armor. Taking out a pistol, he spun it and offered it to Nova. "Hey, take this, will you. Might need it."

Nova took it on reflex, and then she felt Tychus' thoughts and realized the trap she'd fallen into.

"You know how to use these things," said Tychus. It was not a question.

Nova looked up. "What, no I-"

"Don't give me that shit, you picked up that think like a practiced soldier," said Tychus. "You aren't what you seem, are you?"

Nova sighed. "...Look, I'm an agent of the Dominion on a completely different mission. I had nothing to do with what was happening out there. I was sent to meet with some people, they shot me in the back and left me for dead.

"I'm just trying to get home, okay. I don't want anything to do with this."

"Right, whatever you say, Nova," said Tychus, guessing far more than he could prove. He also brought up his essential mission from the Emperor so she wouldn't dare kill him. "But if you pull anything and try to help these thugs kill the colonists, I will put an impaler round in you.

"Nothing personal, course.

"I'm just not fond of genocide."

Nova nodded. "I understand."

"Good," said Tychus. "Let's get a move on, and I won't say anything when we get to the militia."

Together they walked onward for another hour. At last, they came to the militia headquarters in the morning light. Tychus smiled as he saw it, heavily defended, surrounded by neo-steel walls and guarded. "Ah, there we go. Home sweet home.

"Looks like the Dominion got here first."

Nova looked below and saw large numbers of Dominion forces assembling below them. There were hundreds of them, and the militia were ready to receive them. The Dominion troops were cocky, expecting no resistance. The Mar Sarans were calm and cold, with numerous experienced soldiers.

"Attention Mar Sara militia!" said an officer. "You are harboring known fugitives and are in violation of Dominion law. Surrender immediately and you'll be given a chance to defend yourself in court-"

Serena Calabas herself took aim downrange and blew his head off. "We surrender, gentlemen!

"Come closer, and we'll write our signature on the concrete!"

Nova's eyes opened wide, even as the Dominion troops rushed forward without order in a rage. "She's insane!"

"Who is that?" asked Tychus.

"That's Magistrate Serena Calabas," said Nova. "She just openly fired on Dominion troops. The idiot! She could have stalled for time, now they'll attack right away!"

There were no shots coming from the colonists. The Dominion began to scale the hill drawing closer while firing blindly. They weren't making attempt to find cover or spread out either, but

"This ain't gonna be pretty," said Tychus. "Attacking that kind of position is something you want siege tanks for."

"It's the Dominion Military against a fringe militia," said Nova. "You don't really think that professional soldiers are going to lose to..." And then there was an onslaught of gauss rifle fire that poured into the Dominion forces. In mere moments their armor was shredded as they were shot at from several directions.

It was like watching a line of cattle walking into a meatgrinder. Blood and gore was spattered all over the concrete. The formerly cocky Moebius Corps broke and fled backward. A lot of them were killed while fleeing, being shot in the back.

Hundreds of Dominion Marines were dead. Not a single Mar Saran Militiaman had been injured.

Nova's jaw had dropped. "Um..."

"Did you want to finish your thought?" asked Tychus.

The Dominion Marines were taking cover now and calling for backup. Meanwhile, Serena Calabas was making no attempt to exploit the opening. Why was she just waiting there? 'Well, um..."

"Might want to quit while you're behind, Nova," said Tychus. Then he eyed the bodies as communications weren't sent out. "Jesus, that's some major carnage out there. Who are they calling for backup?"

"They're trying to figure out who's in charge," said Nova. "Their first, second and third in command are dead. Some of them are calling for backup, saying they're fighting thousands of enemies."

"How many are they really fighting?" asked Tychus.

Nova reached out with her mind and felt them. She deliberately avoided Calabas' mind but got some information from the others. "Fifty. Though they've got enough ammunition for thousands. Calabas is also arming a lot of the refugees who are taking shelter with them."

"Well, that's whatcha get when you go in half-cocked against someone with a plan," said Tychus. "Numbers don't mean shit if you play stupid."

"The Mar Saran Militia were founded by veterans of the Guild Wars. They were notable for drafting every able-bodied man and woman during the Great War," said Nova. "They managed to stalemate the zerg for days. The entire planetary population was evacuated by Emperor Mengsk.

"Serena Calabas has her reputation for a reason." She shuddered.

"Definitely seems to be a bit of a badass," said Tychus, removing some rations from a compartment of his suit. He gave one to her. "Here."

Nova took it, and they sat down and ate quietly. As they did, Dominion troops began to arrive from all over. Soon the marines had nearly doubled in number, but even as they did, a quarrel began between them. Apparently, several different groups had arrived. All of them had Captain of equal rank. All of them thought they ought to be in charge and were yelling at eachother about it.

Meanwhile, their men were looking at the bodies and becoming just a bit afraid.

"...You said fifty," said Tychus. "Where are the rest?"

"I don't know," said Nova. "I think Calabas was expecting this, though. Perhaps she has some other plan, and this is a diversion."

"Look, they're launching another assault," said Tychus. "Won't want to miss this, just stay low."

The next attack didn't fare any better than the first. The Captains had apparently come up with a compromise where they would share command. They agreed to advance their forces up the hill, each one holding part of the ranks. Someone suggested calling in siege tanks. But that was shot down because then they'd have to share credit with the tank commander.

So they advanced up the hill. But the interservice rivalry between the battlegroups cropped up again. All of them were trying to rush ahead of the others. At the same time, some of the men became unnerved from having to climb over the corpses of their comrades. The result was that the ranks quickly broke into a jumbled mess.

Then Serena Calabas opened fire with an assault even more withering than before. Hundreds died in seconds, and the rest ended up fighting with eachother to getaway. Someone accidentally pulled the trigger on their gun. Pretty soon, the Moebius Corps were all shooting eachother. Several of the Captains started shouting orders. Several others screamed obscenities and threatened to have all the men shot.

At this point, the Moebius Corps turned on their officers and started shooting at them. But, of course, the officers had elite guards with them. So those started shooting at the normal Moebius Corps soldiers. On the brighter side, some of the Mar Saran militia were now laughing too hard to shoot straight.

Tychus put his faceplate in her hands. He was genuinely embarrassed. "Fucking idiots."

There really was no better description. Eventually, order was restored. The shattered remnants of the Moebius Corps set up a perimeter. Soon they began calling for back up again, but as it turned out, they'd drawn off most of the reserves. Another screaming match ensued between the surviving officers. One of them had to be restrained from shooting his fellows.

"I say we head back," said Tychus. "No way are we gonna get into that militia headquarters. If the Dominion wastes em, we'll be sitting ducks. If they waste the Dominion, there will be another troop coming soon."

Nova reluctantly had to agree. "So where to now?"

"I'm thinking," said Tychus. "Well, the way I see it, we'll have to find someplace to hole up until this whole thing blows over. No way we'll be able to get anything done with this shitstorm going on.

"That neighborhood we went through, by now they've probably carted everyone off.

"We could probably find food and shelter there."

"You want to steal?" asked Nova.

"We gotta eat, don't we?" asked Tychus. "For all we know, this mess could last weeks.

"If you like, we can only take from the grocery store. They're always rotating inventory anyway. Come on."

As they walked away, Nova thought about the Dominion operations so far.

Number of innocent civilians who actively supported the Dominion killed: Hundreds.

Number of innocent civilians who actively supported the Dominion permanently alienated: Thousands.

Number of Dominion marines killed in battle: Almost a thousand.

Number of actual rebels killed: None.

This was... not good.

* * *

Nova decided to take her mind off things as she and Tychus got back to the wrecked town. From the looks of things, the streets were all abandoned. She sincerely hoped Samuel and the others had gotten out. But she would probably never find out.

Somehow that was worse.

"So, if you're hunting Jim Raynor, how are you going to cash in the bounty?" asked Nova.

"Hmm?" asked Tychus.

"Well, if the Moebius Corps take over, they'll probably just shoot you and take the credit," said Nova. "And Serena Calabas might shoot you and let him go."

"I'm a specialist when it comes to improvisation," said Tychus. "The real problem is going to be finding Ol' Jimmy-" And then a spec ops dropship flew over a broken bridge. As it did, a black armored marine rappeled down, alongside five others clad in Mar Saran blue. Tychus got behind cover, and Nova joined him. "-well speak of the devil."

Raynor, the black-armored one with a skull symbol on his visor, moved forward. "Okay boys, let's show these folks they don't need to fear the Dominion. Keep your intervals wide, your eyes open and your asses covered. Let's move!"

Tychus and Nova followed them. As they did, they walked through a devasted wreck, which used to be a town. Many of the walls had been shot up. There were places where flies were gathering over bodies near walls. Cars had been smashed and blasted to pieces, while in other places, doors had been kicked in.

"Where is everyone?" asked Raynor. "Hector, you said there wasn't any resistance."

"There wasn't," said Hector.

"Then, why all this?" asked Raynor. "Why the hell would they do this?"

"Because they can," said Hector.

"I'd heard about how Moebius Corps operated," said Raynor, "but... even the zerg don't do this kind of thing. I mean, they kill everything sometimes, but they don't wreck things for now reason. Usually, local native species are left intact.

"Holy hell."

"My neighbors. My family..." said a man.

Raynor turned with his gun and saw a man staggering out with empty eyes. Behind him, several people were hiding. Raynor moved up. "You, what happened?"

"The... the Dominion came down here, they, they attacked and started taking people off to a mine." said the man. "To the north, I... I saw people shot, and I... I hid as best I could.

"They're all gone now."

"Listen, I'll get them back as soon as I can," said Raynor. "The Dominion and your family. Right now I need you and anyone else still around here to take cover. Things are going to get real hot soon."

And then he moved on. Tychus followed, thoughts shifting here and there. He'd been assigned to make sure Jim Raynor stayed out of the Dominion's hair with a sidequest. When he'd gotten the orders, he'd figured they'd be easy. Now though, he was having second thoughts.

Nova couldn't really blame him. Tychus had no context for what had happened in the sector before the Dominion rose.

Soon enough, Raynor ran into Dominion Marines.

He didn't say anything, just shot them dead where they stood. Others came to investigate the scene and were mowed own. Several times this happened as transmissions went throughout the town. Nova realized that Moebius Corps were spread far throughout and were understrength.

They were panicking now, gathering their forces together into the town square. They hurried threw together barricades in terror. As they did, they set themselves up as best they could.

They were afraid.

Moebius Corps still outnumbered Raynor, they were dug in and better equipped. And they were afraid, assuming they were facing a much larger army than they actually were. They'd joined the army to rape and pillage, not fight legitimate enemies.

And then the drop pods came down, slamming behind their fortifications. Dozens of militia emerged from them and opened fire on them from behind. Even as they did, Raynor moved in. Trapped from two sides, Moebius Corps melted. Some threw down their arms and surrendering.

The Mar Sarans shot them. They were pissed.

"What the..." said Nova. "How did a militia get drop pods? I knew that the technology existed for rapid deployment, but I didn't think Mar Sara had it!"

"No way is this all just coincidence," said Tychus.

So the pursuit continued. Raynor soon came on another set of trucks and found Moebius Corps troops shooting a civilian. He'd been running away.

Raynor killed them all and then blew up the truck for good measure.

The odd thing was that nobody was enraged. Not in an out of control. Raynor and his men's minds were tranquil. They weren't screaming or raging, they'd gotten out of their system years ago. They, fully rational and in a white-hot rage, had made a decision. Every single person responsible for this had to die. It was truly chilling.

Now they were moving toward the HQ. Soon enough, large numbers of people came to join them, carrying homemade explosives. Raynor moved forward with his marines at the front toward the HQ, followed by enraged crowds.

The Dominion Officer who had planned to rape Nova came forward. He approached with stern and unforgiving. "This is a restricted area! You insurgents are under arrest!"

Raynor shot him, and then all hell broke loose.

The statues were blown to smithereens. The guards were killed as people flooded into the HQ, hurling explosives at the outside. Heading in, they soon brought out a number of Dominion Employees who had been taken, prisoner. They spent the next hour breaking and blasting everything they could. Pretty soon, Raynor was handing out guns, and they began blasting with those.

"Now you've got the weapons to fight the Dominion," said Raynor. "Remember, Mengsk can only control you if you let him." It was not the greatest speech, but there were soon howling cheers and photoshoots began.

The depressing part was that Raynor felt he didn't deserve the praise and did it only out of obligation. He'd much rather have stayed in bed. The colonists who had won would have much rather not had their homes wrecked and been shot. And the Dominion would have rather the Moebius Corps had demonstrated basic competence.

Well... this had been a truly miserable experience for all involved.

Nova sighed. "Well, at least I can make my call."

And then Raynor blew the building up.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

I felt comfortable replacing the Adjutant with Serena, because the Adjutant has no good reason to be on Mar Sara. Raynor doesn't even have an Adjutant, so it makes more sense to assume the Adjutant is a stand-in for the player.

Just for the record, the inspiration for Moebius Corps behavior is Activision Blizzard.


	5. The Outlaws

**Chapter Five: The Outlaws**

Hours after the destruction of the Dominion HQ, the militia had risen up.

Gun battles were going on in several different places. Weapons had been distributed to the populace and were being trained. Even now, men were organizing for war. At the same time, the Moebius Corps were bogged down besieging militia forces.

And Nova and Tychus were caught in the middle.

"So, are you sure about this?" asked Nova as they scaled up the hill toward Joey Ray's Bar. It was a large, one-story building with a neon set of lights in the middle of nowhere.

"Relax, lady," said Tychus, making his way to the door. "I can handle old Jimmy. We go way back."

"I don't know, I don't think a wanted outlaw like him would be hanging out alone, completely unguarded," said Nova. "What do you think he's doing here?"

"Probably drinking," said Tychus. "Files, I have to say life hasn't been kind to old Jimmy."

Jim Raynor had started a revolution on the day the Dominion was founded. If things had gone badly for him, it was as much as he deserved. Although given what Moebius Corps was doing here, she began to see why people might follow him. "You might want to be careful."

"Why do you think I've got this armor?" asked Tychus with a smile.

Then he moved into the bar.

Nova leaned against the door and listened as Tychus entered, mask closed. "Y'know, for the most wanted man in the sector - you ain't that hard to find." Raynor reached for a gun, as the mask slid past. "I had to see it for myself. Little Jimmy Raynor... the people's hero."

"Tychus Findlay..." said Raynor, looking back. "Nice suit."

"Pays to be prepared," said Tychus, moving forward.

"I heard they put you on ice," said Raynor, pouring two glasses with liquor. "Life sentence. What, did they give you time off for good behavior?"

"That's right, old buddy. I'm a model citizen now," said Tychus.

"So to what do I owe the pleasure?" asked Raynor.

"Just a friendly business proposition," said Tychus. He cleared away some glasses with one armored fist. "Do you even know what the Dominion are doing out here?"

"I'm guessin' yer about to tell me," said Raynor.

Nova sincerely doubted Raynor was that ignorant. And reading his mind, she knew at once he wasn't. Raynor doubted Tychus had gotten out with no strings attached, and suspected he was a mole. However, Raynor also didn't particularly care and was of the opinion that it might work in his favor.

This seemed to be rooted in general contempt for Arcturus Mengsk. Raynor believed that Mengsk wasn't nearly as smart as he thought he was. It was odd to meet someone who thought of the Emperor as a corrupt hack.

"Digging up alien artifacts, old buddy," said Tychus. "Your boy Mengsk has gone crazy for 'em. But I got a contact that'll pay top dollar for every artifact we...liberate from the Dominion."

"I guess I can hardly pass that up, now can I, Tychus?" asked Raynor, not believing a word of it.

This was a lie, of course. Tychus had not been commanded to liberate artifacts from the Dominion. Almost all of the artifacts were in the hands of the Tal'Darim. They were a protoss cult that had started raiding the Dominion recently. It had happened just as the Dominion had been considering peace talks with the Protoss.

The Tal'Darim had brutally slaughtered an entire colony of colonists, down to the last child. In response, the Dominion had planted several psi emitters on the Tal'Darim world of Bel'Shir. Nova knew because she'd planted them herself.

It had been a brilliant move that drew off a large part of the Queen of Blades' armies. Although she nominally ruled the zerg, without a command strain, she could not micromanage. While she was trying to get disentangled from a quagmire on Bel'Shir, Mengsk took back several worlds the zerg had taken.

The action had restored public opinion in the Dominion and restored confidence. It had also torpedoed all consideration of peace talks with protoss of any kind. A protoss was a protoss. And that race had made first contact by glassing an entire planet. Twice.

First impressions, as they said, were everything.

Hang on, that was the Emperor's plan.

Mengsk hated Raynor but also knew he was a dangerous commander. Removing him would require expending massive amounts of resources better spent elsewhere. So he was just going to have Tychus direct Raynor into conflict with the Tal'Darim. The Emperor probably didn't even think the Artifacts were worth anything. Having either Raynor or the Tal'Darim destroy one another would be beneficial enough.

"Partners then," said Tychus. "Sixty-forty."

"Seventy-thirty," said Raynor, sliding him a glass. "My way. Feels like old times already."

"Old Times," said Tychus.

Raynor did not know any of this, but suspected Tychus was part of a trap. He eyed Tychus. "Call me curious, but how'd you get out?"

"Well, I busted out of my cryo-freezer while they were transporting me to New Folsom," said Tychus. "Oh, I musta' killed at least a dozen guards with my bare hands..."

Raynor laughed. "Yeah, I've heard this one before! But you left out the part where you walked on water, made off with the Warden's daughter!"

It was a friendly jab, but there was suspicion behind it.

"Don't you get uppity with me, boy," said Tychus, annoyed. "I heard all about you becoming a big-time freedom fighter while I was away! What happened, Jimmy - the war for truth and justice get too much for ya?"

Raynor shrugged. He'd been focused almost on fighting the zerg and making sure the colonists didn't get wiped off the map. "I ain't licked yet, Tychus. And I promise you - Mengsk is goin' down one way or another." He genuinely believed it. His reasoning seemed to be that Mengsk was evil, so even if he killed Raynor, he'd end up screwing himself over. "Hang on, let me check the news."

Onscreen appeared Donny Vermillion of the UNN. "This is Donny Vermillion, live from the UNN studios on Korhal. We've got a breaking story for you. Let's go live to our own Kate Lockwell, on the fringe world of Mar Sara. Kate?"

"Thanks, Donny!" said Kate Lockwell. "Rebel Jim Raynor has reappeared in a big way. He's attacked a Dominion depot near Backwater Station, seizing weapons and distributing them to the local populace."

"Kate, I bet the locals are pretty nervous about having a notorious outlaw in their neighborhood," said Donny.

"Actually, Donny, the people I talked to seemed really encouraged by the-" began Kate.

"Thanks, Kate!" said Donny, cutting her off. "You heard it here first - Jim Raynor, terrorizing the locals on Mar Sara. When we return, are your kids using stim-packs?"

...That was brilliant.

There was a full-on, armed revolution going on here. The Moebius Corps, representing the Dominion, were getting slaughtered. And the UNN had managed to make it seem like a one-off situation that was now resolved. Kate Lockwell had played her role of 'good' reporter by saying the truth, only to be cut off.

But Kate's truth itself had been a gross underplay of what was actually happened. It made it sound like the events of a Saturday morning cartoon. No one would take it seriously.

Someone watching the UNN from Korhal would never know about the massacres. Or the internment camps or the fullscale war ripping through Mar Sara. They'd just know Raynor staged a raid, and some of the fringe yokels liked him for some reason. Clever, very clever.

And Raynor guessed as much.

"Keep talkin' pal," said Raynor. "I'm just gettin' started." Then he opened up a portable command unit. "Serena, talk to me?"

Serena Calabas appeared on the screen. "Well, thanks to your actions, Mar Sara is now in a state of open revolt against Arcturus Mengsk. In theory, at least. Most of the Dominion garrison has basically declared itself neutral. So now it's open season on Moebius Corps.

"I wonder if Arcturus isn't afraid of Moebius having its own military forces. He might be using us to purge his own ranks. I doubt he trusts Emile Narud, any more than he trusts me."

"Well, it's a favor I'm happy to do him," said Raynor, who privately disliked the idea. "What's your status."

"At the moment, we're under siege by multiple contingents of Moebius Corps," said Serena. "Most of our fortresses are holding out. Their discipline is a mess, and their officers are overconfident. But they've gotten a bit smarter and are focusing on locking down the main militia bases.

Though, the primary command staff are focused on a dig site a way north of my outpost.

"I'd wipe it out myself, but I have an entire battalion of Dominion marines on my doorstep. I'm sending pictures now."

Nova glanced in and saw a picture of a heavily defended fortification. A huge crane towered over the Dominion base. Meanwhile, numerous men were manning bunkers. Numerous buggies were driving on patrol through the wastes. They were hellions, mounted with a flamethrower. Hadn't Serena Calabas arranged that change?

She'd dismissed the Firebat suit as inhumane, owing to casualty numbers. Mengsk had actually agreed, having swapped out the convict armies for volunteers. While this gave him a much better-motivated army, it also meant they weren't as disposable.

Thus the Hellion Buggy came into production, ideal for rapid deployment and hit and run tactics. Best of all, it was cheap and easy to produce en masse.

"See that, crane?" said Tychus. "They're getting ready to move the artifact they found off-world." And the artifact, Nova presumed, would come from the huge pit with alien-looking walls.

"Well, I'll be damned..." said Raynor.

"See, you gotta have a little more faith, Jimmy," said Tychus with a smile.

"Serena, what's the status on the siege?" asked Raynor.

"We're pinned down at the moment," said Serena with a shrug. "A lot of civilians fled to the militia bases before we arrived, and Moebius Corp is trying to pin them down. We've set up heavy defenses, and they've done the same. I doubt they'll be able to take the area by force, but food supplies are a bit short.

"No one is going hungry for now.

"In a few days, that might change. I'm not going to be able to stage a breakout. They've set up defenses of their own, and I don't have the numbers to launch an attack. At the moment, I've been coordinating to mobilize the militia."

"Good!" said Tychus. "That'll keep the Dominion off our backs. These Moebius jokers aren't gonna be able to hold this planet for a few days anyway. At this rate, they'll be wiped soon enough."

"Those folks need our help, Tychus," said Raynor. "There's no way we're leavin' 'em to rot!" His suspicions that Tychus was working for Mengsk deepened.

"As much as I appreciate your heroism, Jim," said Serena, "there are pragmatic reasons to help. If you relieve my forces, I'll be happy to assist in the cleanup. The Dominion garrison might become involved if this goes on much longer.

"Their officers are disgusted with Moebius Corps, but if they think this might become a full revolution..."

"We're on our way, Serena," said Raynor. "Sit tight."

And he shut them off.

Tychus glanced at Raynor with a strange gaze. "So, this Serena, she an old girlfriend or something?"

"Do you want to die, Mr. Findlay?" asked Serena's voice from the speakers above.

"...That answer your question any?" asked Raynor.

"Yeah," said Tychus. "It just does."

Wait, so Nova had been sent to assassinate Serena Calabas, the Colonial Magistrate. This in order to speed the Moebius Corps takeover. And Tychus Findlay had been sent into to direct Raynor away from the Dominion. That seemed to make sense.

Except Arcturus Mengsk was also trying to purge the Moebius Corps, to cut back on overhead. And Moebius Corps was trying to get the artifacts and had sent Tychus. No, wait, Tychus was working for Mengsk, with Moebius as a middleman. And Raynor was aware of this but cooperating.

Meanwhile, Serena and Raynor were working together against Mengsk. But they were also working for him against the zerg. And Serena was working for Mengsk for the sake of order while using Raynor to weaken him. Mengsk was aware of this, thus why he tried to assassinate her. While also relying on her militia to wipe out the Moebius Corps.

So...

Everyone was working together to destroy everyone else? How many sides were there in this conflict, and which one was Nova on?

Perhaps she should make a flowchart.


End file.
